A Bright Idea To Improve Your Low Sex Drive

Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) is a well publicised phenomenon and scientific way of explaining why we all feel bummed out when it gets cold and dark in winter.

But according to recent studies, it seems a common sense solution could be all we need to combat the phenomenon.

Apparently, exposure to light via SAD lamps or a 'light box' has been shown to be effective in combating low feeling and, strangely, has also been proven to increase testosterone levels and reported levels of sexual satisfaction.

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Researchers at the University of Siena, Italy, set about investigating whether increased levels of ambient light could increase sexual desire. 38 men who had been diagnosed with a low sex drive or sexual arousal disorder were tested for their sexual satisfaction and testosterone levels. They were then split in two with one group receiving treatment with a light box and the other group treatment with a box that gave out significantly less light. Two weeks later researchers found:

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"Fairly significant differences between those who received the active light treatment and the controls. Before treatment, both groups averaged a sexual satisfaction score of around two out of 10, but after treatment the group exposed to the bright light was scoring sexual satisfaction scores of around 6.3 – a more than threefold increase on the scale we used. In contrast, the control group only showed an average score of around 2.7 after treatment."

Testosterone levels also increased in men who had been given the stronger light box, but not in the control group. Study authors think the light box works by blocking the, "pineal gland activity in the brain, which can increase testosterone production."

They aren't officially ready to be prescribed as treatment, but you might want to actually try leaving the light on next time.

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